


They’ll Come Soon

by SilverDraconyx



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Kid Peter Parker, Non-Violent Communication, Orphan Peter Parker, Peter Parker meets Bruce Banner, Smart Peter Parker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:00:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28283613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverDraconyx/pseuds/SilverDraconyx
Summary: Eleven year old Peter lives in an orphanage… until it burned down. Peter’s paperwork must have gotten lost, because nobody came looking for him.Then Bruce finds him in the library and takes him to Stark Tower to figure things out.Chapter 1 can be read as a oneshot.
Relationships: Bruce Banner & Peter Parker, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 38
Kudos: 431





	1. The Boy in the Bookshop

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [I'll Just Wait Here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26889451) by [inkinmyheartandonthepage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkinmyheartandonthepage/pseuds/inkinmyheartandonthepage). 



> This work is inspired by the whole series We Forgot Peter by inkinmyheartandonthepage, had to pick a work to attribute it to though. I got the idea as a prompt and wrote it while they weren’t taking prompts.
> 
> Also: There are probably more meaningful or healthy ways to spend your time, than by reading this story. If something comes to mind, maybe you want to go do it. Even if it’s doing ‘nothing’.  
> Otherwise: enjoy:)

Bruce Banner loved spending time in the library. Just being surrounded by books made him calmer, and he felt more at peace with the other guy. Tony had offered to build a library into the tower, but Bruce had refused. This was enough. And it was good to get out sometimes anyway. It was the only public place in which he didn’t constantly worry about the other guy getting out. 

He looked around at the other occupants of the library. A couple standing in front of a shelf. A college student on one of the ladders. A young boy sitting at a table, surrounded by books, probably doing homework. 

“I don’t get it!” The boy muttered furiously. “If that… and then– but why would…”

Bruce smiled to himself and decided to offer his help. He got up and walked over to the boy’s table. The kid couldn’t be older than ten, yet he seemed to have an assortment of quite advanced math books around him. 

“Can I help you?” Bruce asked. 

The boy looked up, startled. “Oh, uhm, well I’m reading Dr Banner’s theory on radioactive mutation, and most of it makes sense, you know, why it goes for the hydrogen atoms, but then also sometimes at the carbon and how it penetrates the cells and all that, but I don’t understand why it comes at the cells in this shape,” the boy explained pointing to a picture in the book. So it wasn’t homework then.

Bruce was thoroughly impressed. He must have underestimated the boy’s age, but even then he had never expected someone so young to read his books, let alone understand them. 

“And here it says that it has to do with mathematics, and Dr Banner references Prof. Michaels book “analytical geometrics in lab nature”, which I have here,” the boy pointed to a second book. “But it doesn’t explain the underlying Math either, so I tried to find a book that explains it, but I can’t seem to get the hang of it.”

Bruce was inwardly grinning in excitement, he loved talking science and this kid was obviously smart and enthusiastic. 

“I think I can help,” he told him and looked over the open books to see where the boy was at in his understanding.

The kid turned to him with wide eyes. “Really? Thank you so much.”

“No problem,” Bruce smiled. “So I see you’ve been reading about the nature of shapes, do you understand how squares come into play?”

“Not really,” the boy admitted. 

“Okay, so the underlying principal…” _(//btw, I know some science and math, but this is not based on any of it)_

At some point Bruce had to get pen and paper from the librarian as he explained everything to the boy into the last detail. The kid was incredibly curious and understood things quickly. Bruce enjoyed explaining it to him. 

“Thank you so much!” The boy gushed when they finally arrived back at Bruce’s book and how everything connected to his theory. 

“My pleasure,” Bruce told him. He looked out the window, it was already really dark and a glance at the clock told him it was way past eight in the evening and the library would be closing soon. “It’s already late,” he said. “Can I bring you home?”

The boy’s face fell a little. “No thank you,” he said.

“It wouldn’t be a problem,” Bruce assured. “Or are your parents coming to pick you up?”

The boy shook his head and began to collect the books to bring them back to their shelves. 

“I don’t have parents,” he said. 

“Oh,” Bruce managed to say. “Your guardians then?”

The boy shook his head again. 

“Who do you live with then?” Bruce asked. 

“I lived at an orphanage.”

_Lived._

“And now?” Bruce asked. 

“Oh, it burned down,” the boy said. “I’m sure everyone is really busy because of that, they’ll come get me soon.”

Bruce’s eyes widened. 

“We were always told to come back to this library if we got lost, and I love reading the books,” the boy told him. 

“How long ago was that?” Bruce asked. 

“Eighteen days, I think,” the boy said. He put the last of the books away. 

Over two weeks. This kid had been alone and without a home for over two weeks!

“I think we forgot introductions earlier,” Bruce began. “My name’s Bruce, what’s yours?”

“I’m Peter,” the boy said. 

“How old are you Peter?”

“I’m almost twelve,” Peter said. “I’ll turn twelve in August.”

“Where have you been sleeping, kid?” Bruce asked. “What have you been eating?”

“Oh,” Peter said. “You know…”

Bruce could imagine and he didn’t like it. At least it had been warm out in the last few weeks. 

“I don’t like the idea of a kid staying out alone without a home,” Bruce said. “You could come to my place, have a nice meal and a bed for the night?”

Bruce wasn’t sure if _my place_ was the right term, he had been staying at Tony’s tower. But the billionaire would just have to deal with the kid. Or he wouldn’t even notice, since Bruce’s room was on a different floor with its own kitchen. 

“You don’t have to do that,” the boy said, fidgeting.

“Are you kidding?” Bruce tried to lighten the mood. “For someone who’s as interested in my work as you are.”

Peter’s eyes widened. “You’re Bruce Banner?” He said incredulously. 

“Yeah,” Bruce said, he’d forgotten that the kid didn’t know. “So how about it?”

Peter considered for a moment. “What if they come looking for me here?”

Bruce didn’t have the heart to tell him that if they hadn’t come yet, they probably wouldn’t at all. “We’ll figure it out tomorrow, okay? Everything will be alright.”

“Okay,” Peter agreed.


	2. Dinner at the Tower

“It’s a bit of a walk,” Bruce noticed when they stood outside the library. “Do you mind walking? We could get a taxi…?”

“I don’t mind walking,” Peter assured him. 

“Okay, good.” Bruce didn’t do well in small spaces with other people so the subway was never an option for him. 

“Where do you live?” Peter asked curiously. 

Bruce hesitated. But he was taking the kid there anyway. “Stark Tower.”

“Stark tower?” Peter asked excitedly. “I didn’t know anyone but Mr Stark lived there.”

Bruce rubbed his neck. Yeah, he was sort of living off of Tony. 

“Mr Stark writes cool papers like you,” Peter continued. “Do you get along well?”

“Yeah,” Bruce told him. “We do a lot of science stuff together.”

“That’s so cool!” Peter grinned. “I wanna do lots of science too. What do you do?”

“Well we do a lot of experiments with radiation and nuclear particles.”

“Like in your book,” Peter said. 

“Yeah,” Bruce agreed. “Like that.”

When they arrived at the tower it was already completely dark out. Peter stared up at the building in awe. 

“It’s all powered by an arc reactor, right?” Peter asked. “Self sufficient?”

“It is,” Bruce confirmed. 

“That’s so cool!” Peter grinned even brighter. “What floor do you live on?” 

“72,” Bruce said. 

Peter turned in circles as Bruce led him to the private elevator. 

As soon as the elevator doors closed, panic struck. This was a mistake, how could he have brought the kid here? Had he honestly forgotten who he was for the last couple of hours? Peter had him so focused on the science and on being Dr Banner that he had completely forgotten about Hulk. 

“Is everything okay, Dr Banner?” Peter asked. 

“Uh…” Bruce took a few deep breaths to calm himself at least somewhat. 

“Shall I bring you to your floor Dr Banner?” JARVIS asked from the ceiling and Peter was momentarily distracted. 

“Yeah, thanks JARVIS.” He couldn’t leave the kid now. And there hadn’t been any incidents in a long time, but he needed to tell Peter. 

When they stepped out into his floor, Bruce stopped to talk to Peter. 

“Peter, do you know about the Hulk?”

Peter looked at his serious face and nodded. 

“So, sometimes I turn green and big and I can’t really control what I do anymore,” Bruce explained.

“Is that why you’re worried?” Peter asked. 

“Yes.”

“But I’m not scared.”

“You should be,” Bruce said. “Peter if this happens and I turn into the Hulk,” Bruce looked into the boys eyes to convey the importance. “I need you to run into the elevator and tell JARVIS to take you up to Tony. Okay?”

Peter nodded. 

“You heard JARVIS right now, he’s the A.I. who runs the tower.”

Peter nodded again. 

“Okay good,” Bruce sighed. “Now let’s get you something to eat.”

“Do you have your own lab here, Dr Banner?” Peter asked as he skipped excitedly after Bruce and into the kitchen. 

“As a matter of fact, I do,” Bruce answered.

“Can I see it?” Peter asked. 

“Maybe tomorrow.” Bruce opened the fridge to look at his options. The kid needed some calories, but more than that he probably needed other nutrients, vitamins, iron, things like that. “What things do you like to eat, Peter?”

“Anything is fine, Dr Banner,” Peter answered, trying to peek past him into the fridge. He would probably eat anything right about now. 

“Well, I’ve got some apple sauce left over,” Bruce noticed. “You could go ahead and eat that while I make you a real dinner.”

“I can help,” Peter immediately said. 

“I’m sure you can,” Bruce said as he pressed the glass of apple sauce and a spoon into the kids hands. “But I’d rather you eat something as soon as possible.”

Peter nodded and climbed into a chair at the counter. He started to eat the apple sauce eagerly, so that was the immediate calorie problem taken care of. Bruce could get him something light and something more filling tomorrow. 

“Any preference in vegetables, Peter?” Bruce asked. 

“I like broccoli and carrots,” Peter said. 

Bruce inwardly raised his eyebrows. That was unusual for a kid as far as he knew. But who was he to deny the kid. 

He had some cut up frozen vegetables and even fresh broccoli in the fridge so it worked out well. Bruce started a vegetable soup with the cut up vegetables and cleaned and cut the broccoli. When everything was done and only had to cook for a few more minutes, Bruce turned his attention back to the kid. 

Peter had finished his apple sauce and looked around the kitchen, probably still hungry. 

“I should have some granola bars in one of these cupboards,” Bruce said. He quickly found some and handed two to Peter. 

“Thank you, Dr Banner.”

“You really haven’t eaten much, huh?”

Peter just shrugged and looked down at the snack in his hands. Bruce just watched him as he finished chewing and then sat unmoving for a while. 

Finally Peter looked up at him. His eyes were wide and innocent. 

“Why didn’t they come get me?” He sounded so young and vulnerable, Bruce was thrown off for a second. 

“I don’t know,” he sadly shook his head. “We’ll figure it out.”

Peter yawned. The timer for the soup beeped. 

“Do you want to eat now or sleep first?” Bruce asked. 

“You just made the soup for me…” Peter said hesitantly. 

“It’s fine, it can be heated up again, it’s no problem,” Bruce assured him. “The question is are you still hungry, do you want to have some now?”

Peter looked down at the wrapping of the granola bars and the empty apple sauce glass. “A little.”

Bruce smiled and filled them both a small bowl. 

“Here you go.”

“Thank you, Dr Banner,” Peter said. Again.

“Well, Peter, when I’m able to help people, it makes me feel warm and happy and it really meets my need for contributing,” Bruce smiled. “So you see, you’re very welcome.”

“I like helping people too,” Peter said. 

“I think everyone does,” Bruce told him. 

“Even mean people?” Peter asked, looking at him slightly confused. 

“Well, no one is inherently mean. And I think no one becomes happier by being mean to others, I think they just might not realise that,” Bruce explained. 

“I don’t think Flash is very happy either,” Peter said thoughtfully. Then he slurped the last of his soup and held his bowl up triumphantly. “I’m done.”

Bruce laughed. “That’s good, Peter. Let’s get a room ready for you, shall we?”

Bruce chose to put Peter in the room closest to his, but close to the elevator. There were a bunch of rooms on this floor, for whatever reason. 

“Do you want to have a shower, Peter? Or would you rather tomorrow?” Bruce asked.

Peter yawned in response. 

“Tomorrow it is,” Bruce chuckled. 

He dressed the bed with fresh sheets and there were even some toothbrushes in the bathroom. 

A good ten minutes later, Peter was wearing an oversized t-shirt from Bruce and snuggled under the blanket. 

“Good Night, Peter,” Bruce said when he walked to the door. 

“Good Night, Dr Banner,” Peter mumbled. 

Bruce switched of the light and quietly closed the door. Then he went back to the kitchen. 

“Hey, JARVIS?”

“Yes, Dr Banner?”

“Could you order some new clothes for the kid? Similar to the ones he had on him, but, you know, in better condition?”

“Certainly, Dr Banner,” JARVIS responded. “Would you like to look at options?”

“No, that’s all right,” Bruce said. “If they could be delivered by about ten tomorrow morning that would be great.”

“I’m sure it can be arranged.”


	3. The smartest, most adorable kid

Bruce didn’t get much sleep that night. The kid in the other room was occupying his thoughts and keeping him up. 

He woke up at five thirty, even before the kid who got up around six, probably a habit from his time spent on the streets. While he was still alone, he had looked up the regulations about orphaned children. He didn’t want to just hand Peter off to someone, he wanted to make sure he was well. And he wanted to know just how they could have forgotten about him, how an eleven year old child had been allowed to live on the streets, waiting to be picked up for weeks. Any articles that Jarvis could find on the matter hadn’t mentioned any casualties or missing people, the children and staff had been relocated around other orphanages in New York while they tried to get the funding to rebuild. 

It was too early to make a normal call to Child Protective Services, so Bruce decided to write them an email explaining the situation and asking for someone to come for a talk. 

“Good Morning, Dr Banner,” Peter muttered when he came into the kitchen. 

“Do you want something to eat?” Bruce asked and Peter’s eyes lit up. “Is there something in particular you’d like to have?”

Peter but his lip and considered. Then he shrugged.

“Well, some fruit would probably be good,” Bruce said. “Do you like oranges?”

Peter shrugged, then nodded. Bruce grabbed an orange from the counter and began pealing it. 

“You can also have some cereal?”

Peter shook his head. “No, thank you. Maybe a sandwich?” He asked. 

“Sure,” Bruce said. He still had some sandwich bread. “What do you want on it?”

“Cheese,” Peter said. “But yummy cheese, not adult cheese.”

So rather mild cheese. “Cucumber? Salad?”

Peter nodded. 

“Do you have any allergies, Peter?” Bruce asked. He should probably have thought of that yesterday. But thankfully, Peter just shook his head. 

Once the kid had been fed, Bruce suggested that they go down to his lab. Peter’s eyes immediately lit up. 

“Really?” He beamed. 

“If I remember correctly, I promised you yesterday,” Bruce said. 

Peter turned his gaze to the floor uncertainly. “You don’t have to, just because you promised me…”

“No,” Bruce waved him off. “It’ll be fun, I’ll show you what I’m working on.”

Peter looked at him again with wide, wondrous eyes.

“I also ordered some clothes for you,” Bruce told him. “They should be here later today.”

“You didn’t have to,” Peter said again. 

Bruce laughed. “Remember Peter: I want to,” he said emphatically. “It’s not my money anyway, it’s Tony’s. And between you and me, I think he has plenty of it.”

In truth, Bruce would probably have felt guilty about using Tony’s money to buy clothes for himself, after all he was already living in the man’s building and buying his food from the man’s money. But for some reason he didn’t feel at all guilty about spending Tony’s money on Peter. Even though he knew the man didn’t exactly like children. But he also knew that Tony was kinder than he let everyone believe.

* * *

As Bruce showed Peter around his lab he once again noticed that Peter was very smart. Not even just for his age, but plain _smart_. 

He might not know many of the terms or concepts that Bruce talked about, but there was an incredible ease with which he picked them up once Bruce explained them. 

The clothes Bruce had ordered came shortly before ten and as the day went on Bruce, not for the first time, regretted his problem with people and public spaces. 

He watched Peter staring with fascination out of the floor to ceiling windows, out at the city. Bruce would love to take him out, but it just wasn’t safe, for anyone. 

“You have a new email from Child Protective Services, Dr Banner,” JARVIS suddenly chimed, startling both Bruce and Peter. 

“Bring it up, please,” Bruce said. 

Short and to the point, the mail said that their capacities were stretched thin and they could send an agent out the day after tomorrow.

“Reply an affirmative please, JARVIS,” Bruce said and closed the screen. 

Peter was looking at him curiously. 

“I wrote to child protective services this morning,” Bruce said. “To figure out what to do next.”

“Really?” Peter asked. “So what’s going to happen.”

“Well, I imagine they’ll find a new home for you, they’ll know where the other children from your orphanage went, and maybe you can stay somewhere where some of them are too. They are going to send someone to sort everything out with us the day after tomorrow.”

Peter listened to him attentively, but his face fell when Bruce said it would take two days for someone to come. “I can go back to the library and wait for them there,” Peter said. “You don’t have to let me stay here so long.”

Bruce sighed. He really didn’t want to tell the kid that nobody was coming to the library, but he supposed he had to explain it. 

“Peter, if somebody had known that you were waiting at the library, they wouldn’t have left you there for days,” Bruce said. 

Peter looked at him in innocent confusion and Bruce sighed again. 

“No one would leave a child alone like that, no matter what came up,” Bruce said. “I don’t know what happened, maybe they all thought you were safe somewhere else.”

“Oh,” Peter said, looking down. 

“The point is,” Bruce said, trying to sound more cheerful. “You can stay here as long as you need, alright?”

“Ok,” Peter mumbled. 

Bruce looked after him in concern as he excused himself to his room.


	4. Social Workers in the Tower

The CPS agent came at around one in the afternoon, right after Bruce and Peter had eaten lunch. A middle aged woman with shoulder length red hair and kind brown eyes. 

“Fiona Charco,” she introduced herself. “You must be Bruce Banner.”

“Nice to meet you,” Bruce said and shook her hand. “This is Peter.”

Peter waved from his position at Bruce’s side. 

“Nice to meet you, Peter,” she smiled at him. 

“Why don’t we sit down?” Bruce indicated the living room couch. 

As soon as he said this, the elevator dinged and Tony Stark appeared. Bruce hadn’t seen him since he had brought Peter here, and this wasn’t the ideal time to tell him, but what could he do.

“Bruce bear,” Tony called. “JARVIS said an agent from Child Protective Services was in the building and that they headed to your floor…” then he spotted Peter and raised his eyebrows, as he looked back and forth between all of them. 

“I met Peter at the library,” Bruce explained. “His orphanage had burned down and he’d been alone for over a week.”

“Huh,” Tony said and regarded the kid again. “And you didn’t let me meet him?”

“You could show him your lab while I talk with Mrs Charco,” Bruce suggested. 

“Actually,” the agent cut in. “Since you are not the boys guardian, he will need to be present.”

“I wanted to talk to you about how it was possible for Peter to be left alone on the streets first anyway,” Bruce said. “We can call Peter back when we start discussing further arrangements.”

Mrs Charco nodded and Peter looked hopefully at Tony. 

“Come on then, kid,” Tony said, leading him to the elevator. He seemed quite enthusiastic, much more than Bruce had expected. Maybe he was having a boring day.

“Let’s sit down,” Bruce said again and led her to the couches. 

“Could you tell me how you met Peter?” Mrs Charco asked. 

“As I said, he was at a library that I sometimes go to. He seemed to be struggling with some work he was doing so I went to help him. When I offered to bring him home, he told me about the orphanage and the fire. I asked him how long he had been on his own and decided he shouldn’t spend any more time on the streets, so I offered to let him stay here for the time being.”

“We’re very sorry that Peter had to stay on his own for so long, things were hectic and all over the place after that fire,” Mrs Charco said. 

“That’s no excuse to leave an eleven year old on the streets,” Bruce frowned. 

“Of course not,” Mrs Charco said. “All the kids paperwork was destroyed in the fire.”

“But there have got to be digital records of the children,” Bruce said. “And why didn’t the staff notice that he wasn’t there?”

“One of the staff members had to go to the hospital, the other two were out with most of the children.”

“That doesn’t explain how Peter was forgotten,” Bruce pressed. 

“The reports said that all of the children were fine–”

“But they apparently weren’t all there!” Bruce exclaimed. “What’s the protocol for fires at an orphanage? They’ve got to have a list of the kids to check if everyone got out safe?” He tried to calm himself down. 

“Since two staff members were out and the only other one was injured, it wasn’t possible to do a roll call.”

“And nobody checked afterwards,” Bruce stated. If he weren’t focusing on breathing calmly, he knew he would have started to show some green. If the Hulk had any good qualities it was that he cared for the well-being of children. “What measures have been undertaken to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again?”

“The IT department is working on improving the software for altering the status and whereabouts of the children,” Mrs Charco explained. “But we don’t have unlimited resources or money, so it will take a while. In the meantime, everyone is always careful, but mistakes can happen.”

“It’s one hell of a mistake if an eleven year old is left homeless and thinking that someone will come for him when they have time again,” Bruce said harshly. 

“Thankfully, Peter is fine,” Mrs Charco said. 

“Yes, but he could well have not been. This could have happened in the winter and then he might have been severely hypothermic before anyone found him.”

“We should discuss his placement,” Mrs Charco changed the subject. “Could you call him back?”

“JARVIS?” Bruce asked. 

“I have informed the Boss,” JARVIS replied. 

It was almost five minutes before Tony and Peter appeared. Bruce knew because there was a clock in the living-room. And Tony decided to sit down with them too, which didn’t entirely surprise Bruce, Peter had a way of growing on him too. 

“Alright,” Mrs Charco said. “Most of the children from Peter’s orphanage have been moved to Sunbury’s in Brooklyn and to Gurfield in Queens, there’s still room at Gurfield, so we’ll place you there.”

“What about the staff?” Peter asked. 

“Mr Andrews is in Brooklyn, Mrs Hardy in Queens and Miss Enderfell is still in the hospital.”

“She’s in the hospital?” Peter asked alarmed. 

“She was injured during the fire,” Mrs Charco told him. “She will be fine.”

“Will she go to Queens too?” Peter asked. 

“Most likely not,” Mrs Charco said. 

“Oh,” Peter said sadly. He had probably liked this particular staff member the most. 

“Alright then,” Mrs Charco said. “Someone from Gurfield will come to pick you up tomorrow morning.”

Bruce nodded in acknowledgement and saw the woman out.

* * *

When Peter had gone to bed in the evening, Tony came down once again. Bruce was sitting in the kitchen, he had almost been expecting it. 

“You’re just going to let him go?” Tony asked right of the bat. 

“As opposed to what?” Bruce asked. 

“The kid’s a genius!” Tony exclaimed. 

“He’s also a kid, a child,” Bruce said. “I like him too, but this is best for him.”

Tony scoffed. “He could live here,” he then said, like it was the absolute perfect solution that Bruce must have been waiting for.

“Tony, he’s not a pet,” Bruce said. “Just because I like him, doesn’t mean he should live with me. _Especially_ me.”

“Why not you?” Tony asked. 

“Does ‘green rage monster’, ring any bells?” Bruce said sarcastically. “Even if I wanted to, I’m not fit to take care of a child.”

“So you don’t want to?” Tony frowned. 

“I’ve known Peter for a few days, Tony,” Bruce said. “Yes, I like the kid, yes he’s super smart and adorable, but that’s a whole different world from… from what? Adopting him? I might like him, but I never thought about having kids, so wanting to adopt him would simply be impulsive and therefore probably not a good decision.”

“Fine, but I’m sending him gifts,” Tony said. 

“I’m sure he would love that,” Bruce agreed. 

“When’s his birthday?” 

Bruce shrugged. “You’re the engineer who hacks into SHIELD.”

“You’re right, I’ll figure it out.” 

Bruce couldn’t figure out whether Tony was still disappointed in him or not. But it was true, he couldn’t just adopt a kid he didn’t even really know, especially when the topic of kids had never even come up, at least not in the last few years. And with the Hulk he couldn’t take care of a kid anyway. No, wanting to adopt Peter was just a crazy thought, a fantasy of a perfect world.


	5. Lab Days

Peter had been having the best week. It had started when Bruce Banner ( _Bruce Banner!_ ) had come up to him in the library and explained the science in his books to him. Of course he hadn’t realized that it was Doctor Banner at first, but he had still been ecstatic to talk science with someone who took him seriously. 

Then Doctor Banner had taken him to Stark Tower and he had stayed there for three days, when a social worker came and he got to spend time with Tony Stark in his personal lab! 

Then two days ago he had moved into the orphanage in Queens with all the new clothes that Doctor Banner had bought him. The staff were super nice to him, even though Mrs Hardy avoided him whenever she could, as did most of the other kids that had been in his orphanage, especially the older ones. 

Now it was Sunday, and Peter thought he saw Tony Stark again, though he must be imagining it, because why would Mr Stark be in Queens?

Peter was sat on the swing in the garden of the orphanage and someone looking just like Mr Stark sat in the car a few metres down the street. 

“Peter, it’s lunch time.” Amy, one of the older kids that had already lived in Queens, called him inside.

Peter cast the man that looked like Mr Stark another glance, then he hurried after Amy.

* * *

Tony had told Bruce that he would just be sending the kid, Peter, presents, but as soon as the kid was gone, he felt like that wasn’t enough. Even in the short time he had spent with Peter in his lab and at breakfast before Peter left, the kid had grown on him. He was smart and adorable and Tony wanted to provide him with all possible resources to… to do whatever he wanted. 

He hadn’t talked it over with Bruce, but he had asked Pepper for her opinion and she said it would be good for him, and as long as he kept the kid out of the public eye and away from his less than admirable traits like the drinking, it would benefit Peter too. 

All this led him into the office of one Mr Gurfield, the owner of the orphanage that Peter was living in at the moment. A few minutes ago the man had gone to get Peter and soon the kid stepped through the door. 

“Peter,” Tony greeted pleasantly. 

“Hello, Mr Stark,” Peter said and Tony almost groaned at the title, but he didn’t. 

“Since we got to spend so little time together the other day,” he said. Bruce had called them back after only a good thirty minutes. “I was wondering whether you’d like to come around every once in a while, spend some time in the lab?”

Mr Gurfield still looked a little starstruck, standing behind Peter. Tony wondered once again whether it was smart to include him, but Pepper had said that it was ‘proper’ and if Peter’s guardian agreed then no one could twist the situation to say Tony had kidnapped him or something similarly stupid.

“I’d love to!” Peter told him excitedly. “Can I see Doctor Banner again too?”

“I’m sure he’d love that,” Tony told the kid. “How about next Wednesday?”

Peter looked to Mr Gurfield. “Can I?”

“I suppose,” the man said slowly. 

“Thank you!” Peter immediately exclaimed. “Mr Stark’s lab is so cool!” he gushed. 

“Great, I’ll send someone to pick you up,” Tony said. “Right after school?” He looked to Mr Gurfield for confirmation. 

The man managed to nod. 

“I don’t know how long I have classes yet,” Peter said. 

“Ah, new school, probably,” Tony guessed, Peter nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll find out somehow,” he winked at the kid and Peter giggled. 

“He’ll have to be back by seven if he wants to eat dinner here, by eight at the latest,” Mr Gurfield said. 

“Sure thing,” Tony agreed. “Then I suppose we’re done here.”

Peter grinned at him excitedly and Mr Gurfield just nodded. 

“Oh, and I won’t be letting anything out to the press, and I expect you to keep your mouth shut about it as well,” Tony said to Mr Gurfield, then he turned to Peter. “It’s your choice if you want to tell any of your friends, but it’s always good to ask them not to spread it around, you never know what the media will do if they pick it up.”

“Okay,” Peter agreed.

Three days later, Peter waited excitedly in front of his school. His teacher had let the class out five minutes early and no one was there to pick him up yet. Peter tried not to worry, but he couldn’t help wondering if Mr Stark had really found out his schedule and someone would be picking him up at the right time. Or maybe he’d misunderstood and Mr Stark didn’t actually want to spend time with him? He knew it was ridiculous and unlikely, but still. 

As Peter had told himself, his worry was unfounded and even before the bell rang, a black car, with a nearly indistinguishable Stark Industries logo near the license plate, rolled up close to him and the driver rolled down his window and asked: “You Peter Parker?”

Peter nodded in relief and walked to the car. 

“Get in,” the driver said, nodding to the back door. 

Peter got into the car and was about to ask the man his name, but there was a divider between the front and the back, so he was left to his own thoughts. 

Soon enough they were at the tower and drove into the parking garage under it. 

Peter was out of the car almost as soon as it stopped and looked around. He didn’t really care about the cars, but there was also what appeared to be a workstation with various pieces of scrap or tech strewn around. This had to be something of a second lab for Mr Stark, so all the cars were probably his as well. Peter was about try counting how many cars there were, when the driver interrupted him. 

“Kid, come on!”

He was already next to the elevator, so Peter quickly joined him. 

“So what’s your name?” Peter asked him. 

“Happy Hogan.” The man said shortly and Peter felt like he didn’t want to talk to him, so he just patiently waited until they were on Tony’s floor. 

“Bye, Mr Hogan,” Peter waved to him, when the man stayed in the elevator. 

“Hey, Peter,” Mr Stark greeted, coming out of the lab. “How’s the new school?”

Peter turned to Mr Stark and tried to smile brightly, but in truth, the school was boring. So he just shrugged. He hadn’t made any friends yet and he was almost missing the last few weeks when he could read any book he wanted in the library all day. 

“Not good then, huh?” Mr Stark asked. “Well I hope we can make your day better.”

“It’s not bad, Mr Stark,” Peter protested. “But I’m so excited to be here again.”

“I was thinking we could continue with that drone I showed you last time…”

Hours went by as they worked on the drone or on any other little thing that caught Peter’s fancy. Like when he wanted to help calibrate Butterfingers to grab a little better. 

Friday reminded them when it was six o’clock so Tony could get Peter home for dinner. Pepper had decided that it would be good for Peter to not miss these social events with the other kids. 

Peter naturally began to protest - “Just five more minutes, Mr Stark! I just need to get this wire fixed…” - and when Tony was about to give in, Bruce opened the door to his lab. 

“Hey, Tony. I’m out of sulfuric acid, JARVIS said you…” he trailed of as he noticed the kid. “Peter?”

“Dr Banner!” Peter greeted excitedly and forgot all about the ‘wire that needed fixing’. 

“What are you doing here?” Bruce asked. 

“I invited him to spend some more time in the lab with me,” Tony said easily. 

Bruce shot him an accusing glare at being left out of that decision, but then he turned to Peter with a big smile. 

“It’s so good to see you again,” Bruce said. “I’d love to spend some more time with you in the future as well.”

Peter grinned brightly at him. 

“That’s great,” Tony cut in. “But right now we need to get you home.”

“Do I have to?” Peter pouted. 

“Yes!” Tony emphasised. He could be a reasonable adult if he had enough incentive, like taking good care of the kid. “I’ll talk to Mr Gur-what’s-his-name about having you over again next week.”

“Fine!” Peter sighed exaggeratedly, then he gave Bruce a final broad grin and wave, before Tony ushered him out of the lab.


End file.
